| Fred Keeley (D-Boulder Creek) | California Assemblyman 27th District who has made a reputation of solving difficult problems through negotiations. Was encouraged to run for Congress but wasn't ready to make that jump. He has almost single handedly brought the major local environmental groups into a supporting role for the new high school. |
| Raphael Lopez | New District 1 council member, city of Watsonville. Has the presence of a young Latino pol on the move.
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| Oscar Rios |
Watsonville Mayor in his second term, represents Watsonville District 2.
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| Chuck Carter | Watsonville Vice-Mayor, represents District 3.
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| Carlos Palacios | Watsonville City Manager since 1996
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| John Doughty | Watsonville Director of Development, replaced Maureen (Owens) Hill who held the position when the site was selected and who works for the district on a consultant basis. She was on the site selection committee.
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| Alan Smith | Attorney for the city of Watsonville |
| John Casey | Superintendent of Pajaro Valley Unified School District. He is the one man who works harder than Fred Keeley to make this happen. He has expressed no interest in having the site reevaluated regarding airport safety. He said he wouldn't hesitate to send his daughter to school at the new high school site. But he lives with his wife and teenage daughter somewhere near Modesto.
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| Evie Volpa | Current President of the PVUSD school board. Has expressed serious reservations about the site but has tempered her concerns to see that the school gets built.
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| Rodney Brooks |
School board trustee who has been the "head cheer leader" for the new high school.
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| Harold Freeman |
Extremely smart attorney for the PVUSD. He won the law suit brought by Wetlands Watch and The Sierra Club against the district on CEQA grounds.
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| Tony Campos | Represents the Watsonville area on the County Board of Supervisors. Also a significant land owner in the area. Has promoted the cause among supervisors of the need for affordable housing. Has taken the lead among supervisors regarding the high school project -- in fact he's the only one known to be interested.
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| Alvin James | Relatively new County Director of Planning. His views on the mattera are mostly unknown
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| Ken Kimes |
Soft spoken representative of California Alliance for Family Farmers.
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| Jim Van Houten |
Watsonville Wetlands Watch representative with a reputation as a staunch environmentalist, now compromising his previous positions in order to support the project. He has expressed support for the district's reorganization plan "secession" which cannot go forward without the new high school.
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| Marilyn Hummel |
Representative of local Sierra Club. She has gone back and forth on whether the Sierra Club can support the high school or not.
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| Chris Johnson-Lyons |
A veteran environmentalist convinced that the new MOU and resultant "preserved" lands are a "win" for the enviro-community.
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| Tami Groves |
Hard working Deputy Director of the Coastal Commission. Her heart is in the right place, but Executive Director Peter Douglas (her boss) knows how to jerk her chain.
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| Charles Lester, |
Another Coastal Commission local staffer who tried hard -- with no luck at all -- to discourage the school district from falling in love with the Harkins Slough Rd. site. Now all he can do is keep from back sliding into the peat bog.
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| Diane Landry | Attorney for the Coastal Commission |
If I've left anyone off of this prestigious list, please let me know. pnichols@tellingthetruth.com
See also:
¦Coastal Commission Draft Report ¦ ¦Coastal Commission Final Report ¦